The unjustified attack on Dr Pansy Lai because she appeared in an ad advocating the “no” vote was despicable in every sense.

While the yes advocates condemn Dr Lai for voicing her opinion they laud Dr Kerryn Phelps for expressing her opinion in favour of the yes vote.

It looks like this debate has got out of hand and it is apparent that some of those on the yes side will go to any extreme to get their message across.

They are even calling for Dr Lai to be deregistered for doing the same type of ad that Dr Phelps has done. I hear no call for deregistration here?

What a mob of hypocrites!  

The public has had enough of these double standards. So please fellas, let’s have a bit of consistency and fairness in this debate.

I have been wondering why Bill Shorten and his supporters are so upset with the postal plebiscite on same-sex marriage. 

They have been calling long and loud, wanting a free vote (in the parliament) on the issue. 

Assuming all politicians are correctly enrolled with the electoral commission (and who knows if that is correct these days), they will all now have a free vote. 

So now they have a free vote, why do they not want it? Could it be that they will not be able to coerce, bully, or intimidate all those who will be voting as would have happened in parliament? 

I had been a union member in my working life and know how union organisers like Bill like to control voting through open ballots. 

Perhaps that is also why he does not want the plebiscite. It will be a secret ballot and union organisers hate that idea. 

Those of us who thought, like the old song, that “love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage” have had a lot of confusing information thrown at us recently about same-sex couples and the way their non-marriages give them all the same rights as married people.

My wife and I were surprised, therefore, to attend the Roads and Maritime Service Centre last week to change our car registration, where we were asked to produce our marriage certificate. This led me to wonder what other equal rights might not be there, particularly when my daughter, currently unable to marry her long-time partner, gets to our age.

Will she be asked for a marriage certificate if her not legally recognised wife is in hospital, or worse? Australia Post apparently charges hundreds of dollars for a name change, but not if you can provide a – you guessed it – marriage certificate.

Those who oppose same sex marriage are resting their hopes on the oldies like me. But if you think we are going to support discrimination against our own kids and grandkids, you are about to be very disappointed.

My daughter doesn’t need my permission to get married. But she needs yours. Please join me in voting yes.

The Apex Foundation Ltd (a not for profit organisation affiliated with Association of Apex Clubs Australia) are looking for past “Apexians” across Australia.

We are trying to reach out to past Apexians to re-establish some of our heritage, through an integrated database. Please contact Keith Miller on millerk@bigpond.net.au or 0408 118 290.